According to Wikipedia, capacitive sensing is a technology for detecting proximity, position, etc., based on capacitive coupling effects.
Two-directional (or two-way) capacitive surface scans, implemented by row and column sensors, are known in the art.
According to Wikipedia, “A capacitive touchscreen panel consists of an insulator such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO) . . . . As the human body is also an electrical conductor, touching the surface of the screen results in a distortion of the screen's electrostatic field, measurable as a change in capacitance. Different technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch. The location is then sent to the controller for processing.”
Co-pending United States Patent Application 20110216038, entitled “Systems And Methods For Detecting Multiple Touch Points In Surface-Capacitance Type Touch Panels”, is published (8 Sep. 2011).
Nuvoton's Touch sensing module is hardware operative to perform measurements of touch sensors connected to touch surfaces placed on a touch panel. The touch panel may then be placed on top of a phone or tablet's screen.
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